Solihull-based affordable housing specialist Living Space has promoted its commercial manager Steve Oldacre to Commercial Director, in recognition of his valuable contribution to the company. Among Steve’s enhanced roles will be to focus on the importance of a strong pipeline, identify opportunities for growth as well as developing and driving
Global construction cost consultancy, Soben has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of Pieter Schaap as Director. Pieter is the sixth director-level appointment to be made at Soben this year, with further growth planned in the coming months. Pieter joins award-winning Soben from Yondr Group, where he was Supply Chain Director
Scottish technology firm, Recycl8, has announced the appointment of new CEO, Mark Gillespie. The former energy executive will be working with the Recycl8 team to drive the firm’s business strategy as they enter the next stage in their development. Recycl8 founder and nationally regarded authority on waste management, Ian Skene,
The pin Partnership, a new venture created by propertyCEO, the UK’s leading property development training company, and the property investors network (pin), the UK’s largest property training and networking organisation, aims to become the central resource for property training and education. Anyone interested in learning more about this sector will
Mark Green joins from ISG and assumes the role of Operations Director working out of Glencar’s expanding Midland’s office. Glencar, a leading UK construction company that was recently ranked amongst Europe’s fastest growing businesses has today announced that it has hired Mark Green into the role of Operations Director. Mark
Birmingham-based The Construction Consultants (TCC) has announced its third senior appointment in as many months, with the recruitment of a new senior CDM consultant. Experienced health and safety professional, Paul Woods, has joined the expanding multi-disciplined construction consultancy to support a growing national demand for its services. Paul has established
LEADING independent property, construction, and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard has doubled its ground investigation team in the space of just three months. The move follows its appointment as the only new supplier to be awarded a place on Severn Trent Water’s AMP 7 framework this year. The framework is expected
LEADING surveying and geospatial solutions company Murphy Geospatial has announced a senior promotion to its board as it continues to build on its expertise across the UK and Ireland. Paul Kearney brings a wealth of experience to his new role as finance director at the company, which follows his promotion
Construction now considered an ‘attractive’ career prospect by 56% of 18-29-year-olds Over 20% women now interested in construction role, even after being dissuaded by third-parties Engineers are back in demand, as second ‘most wanted job’ in UK after ‘healthcare professional’ Over a third (35%) of young people want to be
Earn while you learn with LABC’s funded training scheme Local Authority Building Control (LABC), the membership organisation for 3,500 public service building surveyors in England and Wales, has launched a fully funded trainee scheme to attract new recruits into the profession. Following the landmark Building Safety Act 2022, LABC is
Solihull-based affordable housing specialist Living Space has promoted its commercial manager Steve Oldacre to Commercial Director, in recognition of his valuable contribution to the company. Among Steve’s enhanced roles will be to focus on the importance of a strong pipeline, identify opportunities for growth as well as developing and driving the commercial function of the business. He brings to the senior role more than three decades of commercial experience, and says he is looking forward to the challenge ahead. “We have a tight-knit team here at Living Space,” said Steve, “and I am absolutely committed to retaining and strengthening the strong relationships across our commercial, construction and sub-contractors’ teams. Ensuring we are all fully integrated and tuned in to the needs of each department is key to an effective and productive good working practice.” Steve, who is MCIOB chartered, started his career at the age of 16 at J. Hickman & Sons, as a trainee QS, before beginning a five-year period at Bromsgrove builders Weavers – a career path move that he credits with providing and cementing some of the key skills of his professional life. After working for himself for a number of years, Steve joined Mansel PLC as a senior quantity surveyor where promotions followed through from managing quantity surveyor up to divisional manager. In 2013 he left the company to take up the position of Regional Commercial Manager for United Living Group in Wolverhampton where he stayed for eight years. He joined Living Space in 2021 following a spell at Vistry Group where he was Group Senior Surveyor. Paul Breen, Managing Director of Living Space, said: “Steve has played a pivotal role in developing our supply chain strategy, driving efficiencies, and developing our processes to improve supplier performance. In his 12 months as Commercial Manager, he demonstrated a professionalism and eye for detail that brought real value to our business. “This is well-deserved recognition of Steve’s contribution to Living Space Housing and the wider group and is a timely promotion as we accelerate our ambitious growth plans.” The overall value of Living Space’s development portfolio is now approaching £200million, which equates to 950 affordable houses, apartments and bungalows. The company is on track to deliver at least 20 developments over the next two years. It is the partnership arm of the WhatHouse? ‘Housebuilder of the Year’ Hayfield. The vast majority of the homes Living Space builds are delivered to Registered Providers (RPs) for affordable rent and shared ownership. Living Space sources the land, achieves planning consent and builds the homes for the RP, enabling them to focus on the funding and management of high-quality homes for their residents. For more information, visit www.livingspace.co.uk
Global construction cost consultancy, Soben has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of Pieter Schaap as Director. Pieter is the sixth director-level appointment to be made at Soben this year, with further growth planned in the coming months. Pieter joins award-winning Soben from Yondr Group, where he was Supply Chain Director for the APAC region. He brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise, including in oil and gas, petrochemical, and data centre sectors, and has a strong background in mission critical environments. Pieter’s initial key responsibilities include the formation of supply chain workstreams, sustainability transformations and organisational changes, and creating development activities that relate to Soben’s key clients. Pieter, born and raised in the Netherlands, and a master’s graduate of the University of Groningen, said: “Having the opportunity to work with clients around the globe and add real value to our industry is something I have always enjoyed. “Soben is enabling me to do what I love, and I am looking forward to making a strong impact.” Scott Smyth, Soben Founder and Group CEO commented: “I am delighted to welcome Pieter to the Soben team and know he will do an excellent job in overseeing the development of our global supply chain. “Pieter’s extensive leadership and knowledge in driving successful procurement strategies will benefit our clients and their stakeholders tremendously. “He also has fantastic relationship-building skills, which will help to further cement our strong ties with our current client base across the world. “I believe Pieter’s hire is a real statement of intent and perfectly demonstrates our underlying ambitions to build and develop a global company that offers the marketplace something different.” Soben has further plans for expansion, targeting 1000 people globally by 2027 to support growth in current locations and expansion into additional territories.
Scottish technology firm, Recycl8, has announced the appointment of new CEO, Mark Gillespie. The former energy executive will be working with the Recycl8 team to drive the firm’s business strategy as they enter the next stage in their development. Recycl8 founder and nationally regarded authority on waste management, Ian Skene, will move into the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO), where he will work closely with Mark and the wider team to bring their ground-breaking low carbon green concrete to market. Mark is a high-profile figure in the energy and renewables industries, having held senior executive roles across various companies including Global Marine Group, Royal IHC, Ecosse Subsea Systems as well as TechnipFMC and GE Oil & Gas. Founded by Ian Skene in 2019, Recycl8 works in collaboration with the waste-to-energy and global construction industries to transform Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) normally destined for landfill into a high-performing, low-carbon concrete solution. Ian said, “I’m delighted to welcome Mark to the Recycl8 team, and have no doubt he will excel in the role. Mark’s strong track record as a leader in the energy industry, with his particular expertise in the renewables sector, places us in a very strong position to work with all our stakeholders to bring our unique product to market. By working with us, concrete manufacturers can deliver a significantly reduced carbon footprint to our ever-growing demand for concrete, and waste-to-energy facilities have an alternative, circular economy solution to sending ash to landfill. “Mark’s appointment is extremely timely. We were recently awarded patent status for our low-carbon concrete solution, which means we are the only company in the UK permitted to process IBA and transform it into our concrete mix. As we look to build on this milestone, Mark’s appointment will strengthen our team and drive our progress in this next exciting phase of the business.” Mark added, “I’m excited to join Recycl8 and work alongside Ian and the team. I’ve long admired Ian’s pioneering work in the waste management industry, and I’m passionate about helping Recycl8 in their bid to foster the circular economy and reduce the carbon footprint of the construction and waste-to-energy industries. I look forward to building on the excellent work that Ian and the team have done over the past three years.” Recycl8 is a socially and environmentally conscious company which is committed to contributing to the circular economy and to supporting businesses and communities reach their net zero goals. The company is currently exploring potential bases in the Central Belt area, in a bid to be closer to waste-to-energy incinerator plants, and to be more centrally located for concrete manufacturers and other stakeholders across the UK. Recycl8 previously secured a 7-figure investment from energy industry figures, Mike Wilson founder of Ecosse Subsea Systems and Doug Duguid founder of global engineering firm, EnerMech, as well as a 6-figure grant by Innovate UK to assist with the testing process. Since then, Reycycl8 have achieved several milestones, including being awarded their patent status for their solution, appointing Lloyd Duncan to assist with expanding into the renewable sector specifically targeting wind farms, as well as being shortlisted for Innovation of the Year at this year’s Elevator Awards. Both Mark and Ian will be attending RWM – the recycling, resource and environmental services conference in Birmingham this week (14th to 15th September). For more information visit https://www.r8iba.com
The pin Partnership, a new venture created by propertyCEO, the UK’s leading property development training company, and the property investors network (pin), the UK’s largest property training and networking organisation, aims to become the central resource for property training and education. Anyone interested in learning more about this sector will have access to a variety of high-quality training courses. “Landlords are extremely well-placed to tackle small-scale development projects, and this new partnership means we can help more people reap the benefits of tackling these smaller projects. And of course all pin Partnership students will have the peace of mind of knowing that they will be getting industry-leading training at a fair price,” said Ritchie Clapson CEng MIStructE, founder of propertyCEO. Providing training and mentoring to people interested in small-scale property developments, propertyCEO have developed their courses in a way that it helps trainees leverage their existing skill sets to tackle smaller development projects successfully, and to make the most of the recently expanded range of Permitted Development Rights. pin and the Property Mastermind Programme, both founded by Simon Zutshi, have enabled thousands of people to benefit from Buy-To-Let investing and have helped landlords make the most of their portfolios by providing much needed quality housing in the private rental sector. “Over the last two decades, pin and the Property Mastermind Programme have set a high bar for property networking and training for landlords and investors. Our new venture with propertyCEO means that pin Partnership students will now also have access to propertyCEO’s world-class training and can take advantage of the massive opportunities that exist in small-scale property development right now. The pin Partnership is now the go-to place for high quality training right across the property spectrum,” said Simon Zutshi. The organisations and their products will continue to operate independently, but each will now also operate under the new pin Partnership umbrella. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction Industry News
Mark Green joins from ISG and assumes the role of Operations Director working out of Glencar’s expanding Midland’s office. Glencar, a leading UK construction company that was recently ranked amongst Europe’s fastest growing businesses has today announced that it has hired Mark Green into the role of Operations Director. Mark will be based at Glencar’s expanding Midlands office based in Solihull, Birmingham. Mark joins from Construction Services Company ISG after more than 21 years with the business. He initially started out at ISG Pearce as Operations Manager and more latterly held the position of Divisional Operations Director based in Bristol, where he was also Account Lead for Tesco. In his role at ISG Mark oversaw leading programs of work along with large individual projects on the Tesco retail account together with several large multi-million Amazon distribution schemes. Speaking about the announcement Glencar CEO Eddie McGillycuddy said: “We are delighted to welcome Mark into the business who brings significant experience and expertise which will strengthen our Midlands office significantly. We continue to experience extremely strong growth right across the Midlands market and industrial/logistics sector so this appointment will not only strengthen and expand our team but enable growth through increased resources and customer partnerships. Talking about his appointment Operations Director Mark Green said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to have this opportunity with Glencar and very happy to be joining during a time of such rapid growth and regional expansion with many exciting projects under construction across the Midlands and in the pipeline. I have worked in the construction industry for many years and my values reflect those of the company; working as a team to put the customer first and grow strong, strategic partnerships. I look forward to working with the Midlands team to build repeat business and further growth.”
Birmingham-based The Construction Consultants (TCC) has announced its third senior appointment in as many months, with the recruitment of a new senior CDM consultant. Experienced health and safety professional, Paul Woods, has joined the expanding multi-disciplined construction consultancy to support a growing national demand for its services. Paul has established a track record for the successful delivery of construction design and management services during a 25-year career in health and safety, spanning the public and private sectors. He specialises in areas including pre-construction and construction phase planning and management, as well as auditing, inspection, safe systems of work and the production of safety management systems. Recent experience includes the delivery of support services to the UK and North West Europe safety teams at Fujitsu, where he was a senior health and safety manager for more than a decade. The appointment further complements TCC’s 18-strong specialist team and follows the recent recruitment of Allan Davies as Director and Clint Howell as Senior Building Surveyor. Co-founder and Director of TCC, Alex Pimley said that the firm had spent many months selecting the best candidate for the new role. He said: “Our success has been built on long-term client relationships and industry-leading services, so it’s crucial that we employ the very best professionals in our sector. “Paul is hugely experienced in the built environment and well respected in his field, having delivered services in all aspects of health and safety for the likes of the Ministry of Defence and Croydon Council. His expertise will be an invaluable asset to us as we move into the next phase of our business growth.” TCC is an independent, multi-disciplined construction consultancy headquartered in Cannon Street, Birmingham. Launched in 2017, it has developed a growing portfolio of clients including The Gym Group, Zone Developments, Ocado, Equation Properties, Panattoni, BentallGreenOak, Godwin Developments, Wolverhampton Council, University of Wolverhampton and St Francis Group. It specialises in a wide range of disciplines, most notably project management, employer’s agent, quantity surveying, fund monitoring and CDM consultancy.
LEADING independent property, construction, and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard has doubled its ground investigation team in the space of just three months. The move follows its appointment as the only new supplier to be awarded a place on Severn Trent Water’s AMP 7 framework this year. The framework is expected to run over the next four years and will focus on the delivery of a range of capital projects across wastewater, water treatment and pipeline services in the Midlands and mid-Wales. Pick Everard was the most recent addition to the £2 billion programme from Severn Trent, which the firm’s associate for environmental engineering, Emelye Kenyon, described as a catalyst for change for her team and the business. Emelye said: “At Pick Everard we have provided a strong environmental offering for more than six years, while our relationship with Severn Trent has been present for over a decade, delivering valued structural survey services across its UK-wide network. “The decision to expand our team was a natural one in line with this newest framework, which will further establish our presence in the ground investigation sector over the next four years or more. We look forward to continuing recruit and strengthen our offering, whilst maintaining our close relationship with Severn Trent, which will help improve the services it offers to its customers across the country.” Pick Everard has already delivered four projects on the AMP 7 framework, including Litchfield Sewage Treatment Works, Bulkington surface water management infrastructure, Rampton Sewage Treatment Works and Stoney Houghton Delivery Service Reservoir. It currently has four further live projects, and three in planning stages. The growth of its site investigations team, which currently sits under Pick Everard’s environmental discipline, has seen it appoint graduate, engineer and technician roles, with ambitions to formulate the ground investigation team as its own department in the near future. Discussing the appointment of Pick Everard to the AMP 7 framework, Joseph Turner, category manager at Severn Trent said: “We’re pleased to be continuing our relationship with Pick Everard on this exciting new venture. At Severn Trent, we are always looking at more efficient ways to invest for the future and make our services even better. We value the expertise our partners can provide to make us the most efficient water operation in the UK.” The Severn Trent AMP 7 framework is set to conclude in 2025, with the option of an additional two years under its agreement plan. Pick Everard employs more than 650 staff across its 15 offices, providing a range of project, cost, and design consultancy services. For more information, please visit http://www.pickeverard.co.uk
LEADING surveying and geospatial solutions company Murphy Geospatial has announced a senior promotion to its board as it continues to build on its expertise across the UK and Ireland. Paul Kearney brings a wealth of experience to his new role as finance director at the company, which follows his promotion to associate director only last year. A qualified chartered management accountant (CIMA), Paul has been with Murphy Geospatial, which provides world-class geospatial monitoring and data processing services to a wide range of clients in the natural and built environment, for nearly six years. Paul said: “I’m delighted to be taking on this new role at Murphy Geospatial, which faces an exciting future as it continues to expand its capability and reach. “It’s important to embed finance throughout the company’s departmental and operations structure to improve decision-making and information flow. “Cashflow is the lifeblood of a company. The finance function can have a huge impact and we need to ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible.” Murphy Geospatial, set up nearly 40 years ago, works with clients to reduce risk and make strategic decisions as it captures, collates, verifies and governs geospatial data across the project and asset lifecycle within various sectors. The firm’s monitoring services are used by contractors, local authorities and private clients across an array of projects. They are also vital to construction industry efforts to meet carbon neutral targets. Paul, based in Kilcullen, Ireland, has previously worked in a number of finance roles for major companies such as Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Bord na Móna and Bord Gais Energy, where he was a senior finance business partner. He heads a strong finance team at Murphy Geospatial, overseeing accounts, billing, credit control, payments and administration. A number of projects and initiatives over the years have improved its smooth operation. “The team has excellent skills and provides strong customer service within our finance partnership approach – ours is often the ‘go-to’ department. Everyone in the company is open to ideas and willing to learn and develop,” said Paul. And he is proud of Murphy Geospatial’s work in the industry, with the increasing need for data as the infrastructures of cities, towns and the countryside continues to modernise and develop. “We will need to adapt with new technologies and workflows so that we can continue to develop as a company,” he added. “There is a huge amount of emphasis on innovation here, including investing in a full support service department, to ensure that we are in a strong position for the future.” Niall Murphy, the company’s CEO, said he was delighted with Paul’s promotion to the firm’s board of directors. “Paul has been an integral part of the growth of the group, building a strong team in the finance department and implementing processes that have increased efficiencies across the UK and Ireland businesses,” said Niall. “He has developed a respect and trust with key stakeholders and continues to provide the financial expertise and support the company needs as we go from strength to strength in achieving our business goals.” For enquiries about the firm’s services, please email info@murphygs.ie (Ireland) or info@murphygs.com (UK).
Construction now considered an ‘attractive’ career prospect by 56% of 18-29-year-olds Over 20% women now interested in construction role, even after being dissuaded by third-parties Engineers are back in demand, as second ‘most wanted job’ in UK after ‘healthcare professional’ Over a third (35%) of young people want to be a part of construction, as an industry ‘undergoing massive, positive change’ 31%of young people want to build a ‘better physical world’ through construction careers Teaching shortages loom as sector struggle to fill roles for essential construction courses New research from construction data platform NBS reveals that construction has now become a desirable career path for UK school leavers and young adults, with 56% now considering it an’ attractive’ profession with plenty of prospects.” NBS quizzed 2,000 18–29-year-olds across the UK regarding construction as a potential vocation, yielding surprising, but refreshingly positive results. This will come as welcome news to a sector that saw job vacancies hit an all-time high (49,000) earlier this year. Importantly, the survey indicates a distinct cultural shift in attitudes amongst younger generations, in part, helped by the growing number of digital opportunities available and extensive media attention around the sector’s use of industry-leading tech, dispelling the myth that construction is a dead-end career. Russell Haworth CEO of NBS, said: “It’s clear that perceptions around construction are changing. Young people now realise it’s not the dull, dangerous, and dirty job as mislabelled for years by educators and career advisors. It’s great to see such an uptick in interest following some very lean years recruitment-wise. The challenge for the sector now is to jump on this opportunity, we must not miss it as has previously been the case.” This Woman’s Work The poll included diversity-related questions and found marked improvement in a sector which has struggled to be inclusive for decades. Highlighting the fact that construction has been made to be more inclusive, 57% of females also stated that they consider construction to be a generally ‘diverse’ industry. Now over a fifth of women are ‘very interested’ in construction as a career, showing scope for an influx of female employees following A-level and university results day. However, a similar number are being actively dissuaded by peers and family to take a job in the industry. It shows whilst personal attitudes are changing, sector misconceptions persist, which must be overcome. Mirudhula Ponraj, 26, a Technical Trainee Assistant at Bellway Homes, said, “It’s interesting to hear that more women are interested in construction. Great strides are being made in terms of inclusion, but we know more work still needs to be done for the sector to represent 21st century Britain. With schemes such as Women into Construction, I’m optimistic that we’ll see more change in the next ten years. “There’s a misconception that construction is all about muddy boots and strong shoulders, today’s industry is so much more. I studied Building Information Modelling (BIM) at uni. The fifth of women mentioned in NBS’ study looking to enter the industry might be surprised to learn that roles can be incredibly diverse. The next generation now have the opportunity to work with technical programmes and computer systems, utilising brains over brawn.” Engineering Success Dismissing stereotypes that Millennials and Gen Z aren’t interested in highly skilled occupations, ‘Engineer’, particular structural and civils roles, ranked number two when it came to the list of most sought-after jobs. This was second only to ‘Healthcare Professional’ in popularity, ranking higher than ‘Legal Professional’ ‘Teacher’, ‘Designer’ or even ‘Social Media Influencer’. Drilling down, 8% were specifically interested an architectural career, potentially indicating why so many young people appear interested in making their mark in construction. Almost a third stated a passion for architecture and a similar number wanted to ‘create a better physical’ world, further supporting Gen Z’s growing reputation as the ‘sustainability generation’, regarding greener construction as a route to a lower carbon future An evolving industry Over a third flagged they were interested in construction because they see it as an industry ‘going through a massive, positive change’. This might reflect a growing public awareness over the past few years around the sector’s growing diversity, greater digital adoption and greener approaches to business. Emphasising the impact innovation is having on the industry, three quarters of respondents also recognised that ‘a lot’ or a ‘fair amount’ of technology is used in contemporary construction. Unsurprisingly, salary and earning potential were a main motivator. ‘Good pay’ ranked top of the incentive list, followed by a good home and work balance (2), a respectful working environment (3), interesting work (4) and working with nice people (5). Train Drain However, despite an uplift in interest from a younger generation looking to make their way in the industry, another recent study by the Association of Colleges (AoC) found skills shortages amongst staff looking to teach construction are stalling progress. Putting the problem into context, 85% of further education colleges have struggled to secure staff to teach the relevant subjects. It’s a problem that will need to be addressed should the indicative findings of NBS’s report be borne out in reality and an influx of interest in construction roles occurs over the next six months. Haworth concludes: “This study has proven to be a litmus test of where the industry is heading within the next twenty years – seeing more women and greater diversity entering the workforce will only continue its upward trajectory. With so much interest from young people our next challenge is turning interest into long and fruitful careers.” To see the full survey data, click here
Earn while you learn with LABC’s funded training scheme Local Authority Building Control (LABC), the membership organisation for 3,500 public service building surveyors in England and Wales, has launched a fully funded trainee scheme to attract new recruits into the profession. Following the landmark Building Safety Act 2022, LABC is boosting building control capacity in light of new responsibilities and support for the Building Safety Regulator. The regulator will be responsible for ensuring the safety of all new higher risk buildings and for the oversight of 12,000 existing occupied tall buildings. The capacity building programme will see more than 150 people recruited into the building control profession with a three year fully funded learning and development plan. LABC is looking for people who can demonstrate leadership skills, solve problems creatively and work under pressure. The programme is nationwide with a clear progression pathway. The funded scheme means learning and development will be fully subsidised, and recruits will be paid while they study and progress. The programme allows trainees to gain the skills, knowledge and experience to be able to competently deal with the full range of building work and other statutory functions undertaken by building control. Trainees’ specific development and learning will be supported while they undertake studies for the Level 4 and Level 5 Diplomas in Building Control followed by funded level 6 (degree level) learning once they are in permanent employment with a local authority. The educational programme provided by LABC is combined with experiential learning gained while being placed with a local authority building control team. Shadowing building control professionals gives recruits first hand opportunity to see how the knowledge they gain is applied practically to make sure buildings are safe. Once a trainee successfully completes each stage of learning and has gained sufficient experience, they can take the relevant validation assessment through the Building Safety Competence Foundation (BSCF). After the three-year programme trainees will be able to apply for roles within local authority building control teams – this could be as an assistant building control surveyor or higher, depending on how well they progress. Details of the scheme can be found here.
